Tuesday, 26 July 2016

Best Breakfast Places In Krakow - Old Town

Dearest hearts,

A constant question appearing almost each week on the expat sites and expat Facebook pages - no matter the location - is where one could get a decent breakfast, especially in the Old Town/City Center. First thing first: I hate it when people are not in a mood to get out of their comfort zone for a good treat, for a breakfast that makes a difference. Second: if you're that lazy just order something out or get to the first place you see that serves breakfast. Third: the best breakfast is the breakfast one is served in bed - if you have that and it includes scrambled eggs and loads of bacon... friend, look no further! That's Heaven! :)

Now in Kraków you are lucky because there are a bunch of decent places to have breakfast in the Old Town and in Kazimierz, in the Jewish district. But take this post only as an example, as there are many other options that I will not include here - this post will show you my favourite places to have breakfast, places that I have tried yet again and again throughout time and overall they have not dissapointed me in their breakfast option. These are places that in the 5 years of my stay in Krakow I managed to fall in love with. Hopefully you shall too!

English Breakfast at Bunkier Sztuki Cafe

Without any further ado, without any particular order, let me present you the best places to have breakfast in Kraków:

1. The Best Benedictine Eggs = Bunkier Sztuki Cafe, Plac Szcepanski. It also has some other mean breakfast options that make my mouth water when I think of them. A quite decent version of English Breakfast and a delicious and very filling version of puffed pancakes with seasonal fruits. All breakfast options are served until 12, so make sure you come by that time. Eggs Benedictine are the best there, 2 per portion, perfect done and with the right amount of cheese, ham and toasted bread attached to them. They taste heavenly! I like to pair it up with an apple and mint shake/smoothie.

Charlotte's 7th Heaven Breakfast

2. The Best Homemade Jam Breakfast (and the best Typical French Breakfast that you can get in town!) = Charlotte - chleb i wino, Plac Szcepanski. Everyone is a fan of Charlotte and everyone wants to have breakfast here, especially in the weekend. You'll see it gets super crowded and you have to wait in a line for a place to sit - count yourself lucky if you manage to get one before the 30 min pass... the huge downside is that they don't take reservations! The serving might take a while as the place is huge and packed with people, but show me one local who has never had a breakfast there! There are a couple of options and they are mostly combined with eggs & toast with homemade jam. You can choose if you want your egg fried or boiled. The homemade bread basket is baked downstairs, in the basement, from local ingredients - there will be at least 3 types of bread & a croissant that you wish would never finish... melting in your mouth... Pair that up with the amazing homemade preserves and that's a home run! My favorite is the strawberry jam and the white homemade chocolate ;) There is an option of breakfast that pairs up with orange juice, tea or coffee - your choice. It's worth your time if you are not in a hurry! Also serving breakfast until 12 o'clock only.

3. Good scrambled eggs in large portion, filling even for the appetite of a pregnant woman = Cafe Botanica, street Bracka - in the Old Town, just a few steps away from the Main Market Square. Cafe Botanica is one of a kind and most of the time packed with locals, with students gathering for a quick bite in an unusual garden. The whole interior is done in a very botanical gardens way, plants everywhere, natural or man made out of iron. There are also murals with plants and leaves... the back room has a glass roof and listening to the sound of rain is magical there. I recommend Sniadanie Mistrzow = The Breakfast of Champions (in Polish) which is 25 zloty and includes an awesome large portion of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, bread and butter with jam, orange juice + your choice of coffee or tea. It always puts a smile on my face and I always feel extra full after it. It also has an awesome option of healthy jogurt with muesli and fresh fruits for 19 zloty. The breakfast is served until 12:30.

Gossip Cafe = scrambled eggs with John Lemon lemonade :)

4. Perfect scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, paired with a typical Polish made lemonade from John Lemon = Gossip Cafe, just on the corner of the Filharmonia station, next to the Radisson Blue Hotel. Found it by mistake, opened just this year in spring, it's a place you should visit for a quick bite to eat. The downside: no toilet as the space is so little. Also I am not sure if they don't serve breakfast all day as they don't have that info on the menu... and they are a breakfast and sandwiches place to start with... the latest I had breakfast there was around 12:30... Anyway... what I wanted to tell you about this place is that they make the most perfect scrambled eggs I have ate in Kraków! Both me and my husband fell in love with this place. We love the ham and cheese option, paired up with perfect toast and butter included in the price. We also add to that some John Lemon lemonade - I choose the one with "pigwa" as it's not sparkly but soft and runs smoothly with the eggs. The price for the eggs is 15 zloty and the lemonade 8 zloty.

Niebieskie Migdaly Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs With Ham

5. Good scrambled eggs paired with awesome smoothie combinations + very good WiFi access and very nice and friendly waiters and atmosphere + very good prices for a place in the Old Town = Niebieskie Migdaly, Plac Wszystkich Świętych 11. This is again a brand new place, opened its gates in the spring time this year and made me fall in love with it slowly and securely... I keep saying I will try new breakfast places but I keep returning to it and following it online - the lady running the social media on the page does a good job ;) kudos to her! The place is lovely done, feels comfortable and the WiFi never drops :) the food is great, done from local and natural ingredients you can actually feel the taste of your childhood in some of the cakes ;))) I like the scrambled eggs with fresh onion tails and bacon = 15 zloty, paired up with some smoothie combination like watermelon and apple = 10 zloty. The price is great for the treat you are into! The scrambled eggs may not be puffy and pancake like (like the one in Gossip Cafe) but it will still taste great ans it will come with a little bit of salad and small tomatoes + toasted bread and butter (maybe a bit more bread would be nice but I'm still not complaining!). I am not sure until what hour the breakfast is served as I usually arrive there by 12... also they have a decent option of English Breakfast for 15 zloty - though I am not sure that the British would approve of the sausage and bacon option... I do! :)

6. The Best English Breakfast in Town, vetted by all the British that ever made it here ;) = Milkbar Tomasza on the Tomasza street in the Old Town, just a few steps away from the Main Market Square. One of the questions arising when it comes to breakfast options is where to find the best English Breakfast. For Kraków, ever since I came here 5 years back, the answer has always been the same: Milkbar Tomasza! Everyone praises this place so I had to try it out, and my very first try out was of course the English Breakfast paired up with some lemonade - guess what?! It won my heart over and it reminded me of my trip to London... indeed the sausage and bacon and mushrooms were just like I remembered them! I understood then why all the British people in Kraków end up coming here more often than the usual. Everyone around me was having breakfast at 12... English breakfast with the sounds of U2 in the background - made me smile :) the price is also right = 15 zloty + extra 5 zloty for the cup of homemade lemonade (really nicely done, with mint added to it!).

Mo-Ja Cafe Menu and Scrambled Eggs

7. Breakfast all day and as many extra eggs as you want at an added cost of 1 zloty per extra egg = Mo-Ja Cafe, Starowislna 14. This lovely place boasts out of the awesome opportunity to have breakfast there everyday at any hour, and I love that! It gives everyone the opportunity to have a great breakfast no matter the time you wake up! Even if you are an early bird or a lazy one... you get your treat! Scrambled eggs brought to you in the pan, hot from the oven, with toast and butter included. For each extra egg that you want added you pay 1 zloty - I would usually go with 2 extra eggs as I am the person that just loves eggs! Of course if you are not into that you can try the French type breakfast of croissants ans coffee - that's not me but it looked nice ;) or the pancakes (that I have heard praised highly but not yet managed to test it!). There are also nice organic local products and cakes that got my eye... but more on that once I try them out! Just remember: Mo-Ja Cafe = breakfast all day!!!

Of course there are more options of having breakfast in Kraków but these are the ones I truly love and I keep coming back to them again and again. Also me about where to have a snack or where to have something sweet and I'll pull another list for you ;) ask and you shall be given! I leave you now to try out all the opinions presented and you let me know which one is the closest to your heart. Though if you are British you will probably pick Milkbar Tomasza with your eyes closed ;) give these places a go!